City’s sewage flows into sea
People are being urged to stay out of the water after workers spent last night frantically trying to stop sewage flowing into Wellington Harbour.
The work caused major traffic problems in the central city, as two streets were forced to shut for the urgent work to take place.
A collapsed wastewater tunnel under Dixon St caused the mixture of water and human waste to flow into the harbour.
Wellington Water chief executive Colin Crampton said sewage from the entire business zone between Ghuznee St, Featherston St, Vivian St and Tory St could be running into the sea.
Sewage was overflowing into the harbour at Frank Kitts Park, and below the Taranaki dive platform – one of the city’s most popular swimming spots – was also expected to overflow.
Fixing the problem could take days, he said. ‘‘It’s the time of year when everybody wants to be swimming and using the harbour . . . but we won’t be able to access it for a few days, and we’re really sorry about that.’’
Wellington Water urged people to stay out of the water between the port and Pt Jerningham.
Willis St between Vivian St and Manners St, and Ghuznee St between the The Terrace and Victoria St, were closed while workers tried to stop the flow.
The Wellington City Council said ‘‘the closures are required so Wellington Water can install a temporary wastewater diversion at the intersection of Willis and Ghuznee streets’’.
‘‘This requires urgent trenching work and installation of temporary pumps at the intersection,’’ the council said.
Buses heading into the city from Brooklyn were diverted along Vivian St and Taranaki St.
Metlink said because of emergency roadworks on Ghuznee St in the Wellington CBD, Route 18e and Route 21 services had to be diverted.
Residents and businesses in the affected area were also asked to use less water.
‘‘If people can reduce in any way possible that would be a massive help to us.’’
The collapsed tunnel, beneath Willis and Dixon streets in the CBD, has been shut down and was being prepared for repair.
‘‘We’re in the process of setting up overland pipes to take that water out,’’ Crampton said.
The 1930s tunnel was already showing signs of wear, he said. ‘‘We had signals from residents that it was starting to smell in that area.’’
Wellington Water was in the process of fixing it when it partially collapsed, and then completely collapsed yesterday morning, he said.
‘‘We hadn’t established the extent of the damage at that stage.’’
The entire network of other junction points would need to be checked, in case they had deteriorated to the same extent, he said.
This was not the first time raw sewage had entered the harbour – in August, effluent was being pushed out of stormwater pipes under Foxglove restaurant on Queen’s Wharf until contractors were able to clear a blocked wastewater pipe.
In June, Wellingtonians were told to stay out of the water after a suspected sewage leak near Shed 5, between Frank Kitts Park and the TSB Arena.